I've been a fan of the civilization series since II. However I haven't played all of them due to being busy at different points in my life. Didn't play VI for example, but I did enjoy V, some of the DLC for it was good IIRC.
I'm concerned about the pre-order push, and that there is going to be a Switch version. But it does look like it could be good? No way I'm pre-ordering, but would like something to look forward to.
it simply cannot be better than civ 5 with the brave new world expansion pack.
Civ4 + Fall from Heaven mod
There's at least one version of that which is still being actively worked on, and it's pretty good.
I loved Rhyes and Fall for Civ IV.